HEROES (ROBERT CORMIER)
Heroes (Robert Cormier) Teaching Resources includes a 127 slide PowerPoint, 35 worksheets and a scheme of work overview.Heroes (Robert Cormier) is a detailed unit of work featuring a series of 15 lessons designed to develop pupil knowledge and understanding of the novel Heroes by Robert Cormier at GCSE. Our Heroes teaching resource includes a range of activities for pupils of all abilities:

-A brief biography of Robert Cormier and the historical context of 1940s USA and the Second World War
-Activities to explore narrative structure and develop knowledge of the plot of Heroes
-In depth analysis of the characters of Francis Cassavant, Nicole Renard, Larry LaSalle and Arthur Rivier

* Watermarks do not appear on purchased resources

Preview resource: Click slides to enlarge

-Exploration of the key themes of Heroes - heroism, guilt, forgiveness, innocence and evil, revenge, war, loneliness and appearance and reality -Developing awareness of the features of a novel – character, theme, plot, style and language

-The role of setting and the significance of place in the book -Robert Cormier's use of symbolism, foreshadowing and powerful imagery -Cloze passages and sequencing tasks to consolidate understanding of key scenes

-Reading and discussion tasks and questions-Hot seating activities to explore characters, motives and themes -Diary writing (empathetic writing) to develop a deeper understanding of character -Links to additional Heroes teaching and learning resources

-Differentiation - lessons with extension tasks and questions -Mind mapping the key themes and issues of Robert Cormier's Heroes -A 15 lesson unit of work (following the four part lesson...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...﻿The title “Heroes” immediately highlights heroism as a key theme to the novel, because it is planted into the reader’s sub-conscious mind, so they identify heroism in everything they read, even if that is not the concept Cormier’s intended to present. Acting as an umbrella term, “heroes” represents the many values associated with heroism, repeated throughout the novel. Some may see it as an overbearing, forced title that Cormier uses to make heroism into the main focus, because he failed to do so in the novel. However, I believe that the plethora of themes investigated, particularly contrasts of love-hate, guilt-forgiveness, appearances-reality and fear-bravery, are brought together in “Heroes” during the search for the definition of heroism.
Cormier’s technique for developing heroism involves representing different heroic traits in each character. Even those who may not be views as heroes display occasional heroics, amongst their ulterior behaviour.
Taking Francis as the first example, Cormier’s chosen main character and narrator gains the reader’s preference, but this is done through pity and sympathy for him as he has “no face”, after his return to Frenchtown in Monument, since the “war is over”. These are generally unusual feelings to express towards a hero, different to admiration and gratitude. In the descriptions of the young, pre-war Francis, he is portrayed as timid, weak and lacking in...

...Title: Choice Book Report
I."Heroes"
II. RobertCormier
III. Laurel-Leaf Books, 1998
IV. Personal library
V. Pages: 135 pages
VI. Fiction
VII. Fiction is something told or written that is not fact: something made up. 2. A made up story about real or imaginary persons or events.
VIII. Summary:
A. Setting-The setting of "Heroes" is in a small town called Frenchtown. It is set in the early 1940s during the Second World War. Everyone knows each other in this town because it is so small. There is a historic site in French town called the Wreck Center, it is supposed to be haunted, so therefore no one will go there. Even the adults are afraid to go near it!
B. Characters-The main characters in the story are Francis Cassavant, Nicole Renard, and Larry LaSalle. Francis is an eighteen year old who has no face. He is a very shy person. Francis was in World War II and the people he was in the war with are really his only friends. Francis has also been in love his whole life with one girl, Nicole Renard. He likes her but he is way to shy to talk to her. Nicole is a very nice young lady. She tried to help out in the war so she would knit things for the men in the war. Larry LaSalle is an older man probably in his early forty or late thirties. He is Francis's childhood hero. Larry is a very nice man.
C. Summary:
"Heroes" is about Francis Cassavant. He is eighteen and just got home from World War II. He has...

...﻿
In the novel heroes, RobertCormier uses language and literary devices to explore the character of Larry LaSalle in terms of his physical appearance, speech patterns, reputation, public behaviour and secret actions. Heroes is a book set in, Frenchtown, America which explore the themes of secrecy, guilt, love and heroism. Cormier slowly reveals why Francis and 18 year old wants to kill, Larry LaSalle a man he once worshiped.
Francis tells us in the first chapter that LaSalle is ‘the man I am going to kill.’ From the first chapter of the novel is clear that LaSalle is going to be very important throughout the story because he is mentioned as well as Nicole Renard.
When Larry is introduced in the first chapter he is presented as being a charismatic man. Cormier also describes him by using and adjective ‘dazzling movie star’ which gives us the impression that LaSalle is initially presented as someone wealthy and someone to be admired. However there is a sense of foreboding as to why he does not want to be in the show business and wants to run a youth club in Frenchtown.
Moreover Larry’s appearance is described as being ‘handsome, glamorous’ however LaSalle
...

...sense of determination within Francis. Francis has been ‘rehearsing’ this moment ever since Larry raped Nicole. He’s been waiting for LaSalle’s return to Frenchtown for ‘years’ so that he can seek revenge. Here Cormier creates a sense of violence and tension.
‘I’ve decided to aim for the heart’ Francis’ thoughts towards Larry are quite violent and he wishes to ‘shatter his heart the way he broke Nicole’s’. Francis wants nothing but revenge and intends to attain it. Cormier’s use of Similes is very clever. Francis wants to do physically what Larry did to them mentally.
Despite Larry’s horrific character, he knows Francis very well. Larry knows that no matter how angry Francis is, he will never be able to physically murder someone. Larry ‘withdraws a pistol’ knowing that Francis won’t be able to fulfil his ‘mission’. The pistol was a ‘relic from the war’; it seems as if everything bad that happened in Francis’ life lies right there in that tenement.
‘Leave me here, leaver everything here… leave it all behind with me’ We can see how quickly the mood changes, from Francis’ violent words to Larry’s words of comfort. Francis ‘suddenly wants go get out of there’ he wants no part in Larry anymore and the ‘aroma of the soup is sickening and the tenement is too warm.’ Cormier creates a rather nauseating atmosphere; Larry’s tenement is a place no one would want to be in.
‘The sound of a pistol cracks the air.’ The theme of innocence runs throughout...

...RobertCormier, Behind the Pages
Throughout history, great people have accomplished greatness. Robert Edmund Cormier is one of those people. For over two decades Cormier has been, and continues to be, one of the most controversial and widely read authors of young adult novels. (Ed. Deborah J) Robert Cormier's novel are well known for the conflicts between light and darkness, and what is right from what is wrong.
RobertCormier was born on January 17, 1925, in the French-Canadian part of the town of Leominster, Massachusetts. His father, Lucien Joseph Cormier, was a factory worker, and his mother, Irma Margaret Collins Cormier, stayed at home to take care of the children. Cormier grew up attending a Catholic School, living near plastic factories and with his extended family nearby. His surroundings as a child helped with the development of the characters in his novels and the settings of his stories.
As a child Cormier went to a Catholic School, and when he graduated he attended Fitchburg State College in 1943. While he was there, an art teacher became interested in Cormier's work and published it in a local French magazine. (Ed. Deborah J) Shortly after graduating college, he began to make radio advertisements for a local radio station. This gave him the opportunity to expand his horizons. He...

...“My name is Francis Joseph Cassavant and I have just returned to Frenchtown in Monument and the war is over and I have no face.” Establishes the setting and Introduces narrator in first person which creates mystery.
Chapter 1 – page 1
“Oh, I have eyes… but no ears to speak of, just bits of dangling flesh. But that’s fine, like Dr Abrams says… He was joking, of course.” Conversational style of address which creates a close bond between the reader and the narrator
Chapter 1 – page 1
Description of Francis’s physical injuries creates imagery and Creates sympathy in the reader and makes the reader want to read on and it makes the reader want to know why he looks like this
Chapter 1 – page 2
“But not having much success” and “I don’t blame them” Francis has low self-esteem and lacks confidence Presented as single-sentence paragraph to empthasize the fact that he does look "disfugured" and people could be scared or frigtend of his appearance
Chapter 1 – page 3
“This was proof that the scarf and the bandage were working in two ways: not only to hide the ugliness of what used to be my face, but to hide my identity.” Why is Francis trying to hide? This Creates mystery and makes the reader want to read on and find out what happens later in the book.Francis believes he is ugly which shows he has low self esteem and doesnt belive in hiself.
Chapter 1 – page 4
“I thought of Nicole Renard, realizing I had not thought of her for, oh, maybe two hours.” First...

...How is the theme of heroism presented throughout the novel ‘Heroes’?
The theme of heroism is discussed throughout the novel, ‘Heroes’, though at times it is more obvious than others; two main types of hero are presented through the characters, a war hero and an inspirational hero. Cormier set the novel during World War two however it was written after the war and inspired by the 50th anniversary of the D-day landings in 1994.
Both main characters Francis and Larry are portrayed as war heroes as they receive Silver Stars due to their contribution and bravery in the war, “only the silver star is for heroism.” This quote proves the significance of the Silver Star amongst those who took part in the war efforts and showed that if these two characters owned one, they are popular, respected and honoured by those around them. “The towns first big war hero,” Larry was described as a major idol by the people of the town except from Francis who never thought of Larry as other people did. The reader is exposed to the reason why in the first mentioning of Larry by Francis, “the man I am going to kill,” however why he says this is not explained until the rape scene with Nicole which is where most of the ideas in the book all come together and where the relationships between characters becomes clearer.
Furthermore, the fact that they both were awarded with the Silver Star should have indicated that they were both...

...﻿ Vision of the future
For many years, science fiction writers have challenged readers with visions of the future and future society. These authors offered an insight into what they expected man, society, and life to be like at some future time. One could divide their visions of future into two main streams: an apocalyptical one, with the degradation and demoralization of our society, and a utopian world, where our civilization turns into a highly conscious and developed one, and people live in perfect harmony.
Today one can state that we live in a highly developed society, where science can be encountered everywhere. For the past two centuries, our world has drastically changed with the development of nuclear physics and chemistry. Major countries possess weaponry that can completely annihilate Earth multiple times (if that was possible). No wonder that while living on the verge of such technological progress it makes people wonder what is going to happen in the future. Though apocalyptical theories have a certain background, I do not think that they have an actual chance to become truth.
If one would carefully analyze everything what has happened to humanity over the past 30 centuries he would see that so many mistakes were made by our leaders because of power-greed blinded eyes, and so many people were mistreated and suffered because of someone's sick will, that if it did not happen we would probably live in one of those utopian...